The Coming Darkness
by blurredfrenzy
Summary: When a dark threat emerges from the Far Side Cyclonis must journey across the Atmos to banish it.
1. Chapter 1: Darkness Descends

The Coming Darkness

**Chapter 1**

The study was cold. It was often cold in the Far Side. That was the problem with stone. It wasn't very insulating. But there was something else, something that just didn't feel right to Master Cyclonis as she stood leaning over a desk studying ancient scrolls. She traced the words with her finger as she quietly whispered them to herself. "The obsidian gate stands in the middle of the tower" Her curiosity grew. "The beacon that projects the guiding light shall grow black. It's warmth fading to cold." Her heart beat slightly faster as she attempted to recall anything she saw on her way in that would match the description that the tattered scroll she had found in the library offered. "He who touches it, the obsidian gate, shall burn with a frozen fire deep within his soul, the agonising screams feeding the hunger of the shadows, bringing the darkness ever closer" Cyclonis began to panic. She remembered a large, at least 5 metres up and 3 across, black frame that twisted with thorns and spines protruding from it. This can't seriously be true she thought, a futile attempt to calm herself down. What else did the scroll say?

Her heart skipped a beat. "The immortal darkness comes" Cyclonis felt strange. A mixture of curiosity, fear and that chill that wouldn't go away. She reached the end of the scroll. "We paid the price for our mistakes, do not let the same fate befall you"

Cyclonis was more than concerned. She had a large Cyclonian force stationed here and it is likely the Storm Hawks followed her. Her soldiers were generally not the most academic of individuals and although she had ordered, on the grounds it really creeped her out, that no one should touch what the scroll referred to as the obsidian gate she was pretty sure someone would. If this was true she needed to know who had been near it and find out if any had made contact with it in any way. Cyclonis got her answer.

A deafening scream erupted from below her. Someone had touched the gate. Cyclonis grabbed her crystal staff, a satchel lying in the corner of the room containing varying, random items, and a velocity crystal lying on a shelf. She'd need it to get out fast enough. Cyclonis sprinted down the grey stone corridor leading to the study, turned a corner, and went down another. And another. And another. She could hear more screams of panic. "Oh fuck" She whispered under her breath as the volume of the screams increased. The horrified shouts, curses and screams from the Cyclonian guards intensified to form a deafening crescendo of madness, pain and fear all swirling around Cyclonis. The walls shook with every shout.

Suddenly Cyclonis felt something make contact with her ankle and she fell to the ground. She turned onto her back and stared speechlessly at the smoky, distorted figure of inky black shadow that stood over her, its blood red eyes burning through her with malicious cruelty. Cyclonis wanted to scream but couldn't. She was lost for words as the demonic entity walked towards her with silent, weightless footsteps, its sickle gripped firmly in its right hand. She scrambled to her feet and ran across the corridor, out the end, and into the hall. The hall consisted of the biggest room Cyclonis had ever seen in her young life. Pillars at least a metre in diameter supported a roof at least 750 feet tall. It was a truly remarkable architectural achievement and she would have happily stood and admired it had it not been splattered all over with pitch black ink. The ink emitted a thick choking cloud of smoke and appeared as bottomless as the lake that covers more than half of terra Aquanos. Cyclonis broke out of her daydream and kept moving. If she was caught by a group of those living shadows again then she knew she wouldn't live to have nightmares about it.

Cyclonis finally reached the hangar. Dozens of skimmers and heli-scooters stood neatly arranged in a massive empty room. To the left the hangar doors were open as Talons mounted their rides(LOL) and flew out to what they hoped was their salvation. Cyclonis followed their example and jumped on a Talon switchblade elite. She revved the engine and took off. She allowed herself a quick glance back to see if she was being followed. 3 nightcrawlers fought desperately to cover her escape as they are sworn to do. Between them they killed 7 shadows. None of them survived.

Master Cyclonis gazed up into the sky with a feeling of immense fear. Once it had been a pale green, this unusual colour caused by the light the beacon in the centre of the spire emitted. Now the sky was an endlessly deep jet black ocean of ink emitting a choking cloud of wispy smoke. Waterfalls of this mysterious liquid cascaded from the blackened sky to the depths of the Far Side. A thought suddenly struck Cyclonis; without the oracle crystal how was she going to re-open the portal and escape the Far Side? Her worries were swept away with a tide of relief as the Condor, the Storm Hawks carrier, sped past her and emitted a bright blue beam. The ravenous maw of the portal tore through reality and guaranteed salvation. Cyclonis inserted the velocity crystal into the engine, slammed the panel shut, and raced to join her enemies and minions in their escape from this madness.

Dozens of Talons, the Storm Hawks and Cyclonis burst through the portal at incredible speeds as it collapsed and faded from reality behind them. Cyclonis couldn't believe it. Any of it. What were those demonic shadows that slaughtered and butchered here men with such disregard for life? Where does the obsidian gate lead to? And who touched the fucking thing? She looked to her left. The Storm Hawks sped off into the distance to escape the Cyclonian destroyer class carrier that loomed over her. The Talons flocked to enter it and as she did the same she received the second biggest shock of her life. It fired a glowing bolt of deep red energy that ate through her left engine. "What are you doing?" Cyclonis screamed as she begun spiralling from the sky. She looked below to see the shape of Terra Saharr getting closer and closer. The strangest thought flickered through her mind amidst the panic; Saharr isn't anywhere near Cyclonia. The portal reopened in a different place. The air resistance built up and Cyclonis managed to gain enough control over the skimmer to glide unceremoniously towards the vast expanse of desert rather than dropping straight out of the sky. The skimmers wheels hit the ground harder than she would have liked and she was thrown off, hitting the sand and rolling several feet before coming to a stop. Then everything went black.

"Eeuurrgghh" She moaned in pain as she rolled over and regained consciousness. Sand battered her body as she lay there unable to move without tremendous effort. She lay in the sand for what felt like hours until she had the strength, or the will, to rise to her feet. She noticed her cloak was gone, probably torn off in the crash. Cyclonis looked around and saw nothing but sand, sand and more sand. But that wasn't the worst part. She couldn't find her staff. Without it she was defenceless. After cursing her misfortune for a lengthy period of time she stumbled through the blinding sandstorm in a random direction on the distant hope she would find something of use. The desert was burning hot and with no shelter from the sun Cyclonis became exhausted. She shambled across the endless expanse of sand and rock amidst the fury of the sandstorm. It seemed to go on, infinitely, as she stumbled further and further away from the site at which she awoke. Eventually she could just make out the shape of a sandstone structure in the distance which, in a sandstorm, is only a few metres. It was dark brownish-orange and made of blocks of cracked, weathered stone. A path of crumbling steps lead up to the entrance to this long forgotten ruin. She stumbled towards it and up its eroded, cracked steps. The door has relatively large and made of dry, splintered, scarred wood. Cyclonis spent a few seconds building up her strength then pushed it open a little, slipped through and closed it behind her. She turned from the door to examine the temples interior and her stare was met by a pair of blood red eyes…


	2. Chapter 2: True Threat

**Chapter 2**

Cyclonis was panicking. The blood red eyes burned through her with their emotionless stare. She realised she had no weapon. The creature was about her height, 5 foot 5, and carried a nasty looking sickle, its maliciously curved blade built specifically for hacking off limbs while causing as much pain as possible. It lunged forward and swung at Cyclonis and she swerved to the right, narrowly missing the cruel blade. The shadow swung again and, desperate, Cyclonis grabbed its wrist, stopping its swing. It had the consistency of cold butter; soft enough to allow her fingers to push through slightly but solid enough to stop them pushing very far. The shadow felt no pain despite Cyclonis' fingers sinking an inch or two through its 'skin' and continued to push, trying to overpower her. She punched out with her free right hand and caught it in the misshapen silhouette of its head. She made a small dent in it, complete with imprints of her knuckles, and the creature reeled from the sharp blow. Cyclonis pressed home her advantage and grabbed the top of the sickles handle. Wrenching it from the shadows grip she transferred it to her right hand and sunk it into the entities head. Thick, oily ink sprayed out and leaked from the wound as the shadows body and emotionless eyes faded from existence. The ink remained.

Her assailant slain Cyclonis surveyed the room. It was dark and gloomy with only the occasional torch burning in the corners. The walls were a deep reddish-brown and were less weathered than the stone outside. The room was completely empty and only a corridor on the far side of the room led anywhere. Cyclonis followed it cautiously and eventually came to a fairly large room with a low ceiling and four pedestals, each with a burning torch at the top, surrounding a pentagram in the centre.

"I've been waiting for you"

Cyclonis stared in disbelief as the Oracle faded into view above the pentagram.

"Welcome" it said, coldly and without emotion.

"The…Oracle?" Cyclonis mumbled.

"You remember me" It stated, its voice without conviction.

"Of course I remember" snarled cyclonis, growing impatient.

"Calm yourself, you must have answers, but to find them you must listen"

"Then get on with it"

"When you lose the anger and haste from your voice you will be ready"

"I almost destroyed you once and I will do it again"

"No, you won't"

"What makes you certain?"

"You lack the power"

"Your fatal misjudgement"

"Then go on, attempt to destroy me"

Cyclonis grew angry, and slightly embarrassed. She could no longer feel the power of the crystal magic flowing through her. The Oracle was right and, as much as she hated to admit it, she had somehow lost her crystal power.

"As I thought and knew, when you touched the dark entity your power was, like a candle, snuffed out in an instant"

"AND IT DIDN'T OCCUR TO YOU TO TELL ME?" Cyclonis had lost her patience.

"You needed to learn the extent of the danger surrounding the darkness"

"The darkness?"

"Even now you are ignorant"

"Maybe I wouldn't be if you would get to the point and explain what the fuck is happening to me!" Cyclonis snapped

"I will explain when you will listen"

Cyclonis gave up. "Okay, I will listen"

"Very well, but I must warn you that if you find the answers you seek then there will be no turning back"

"No more riddles Oracle, just tell me" Cyclonis was growing impatient again.

"Thousands of years ago the ancient Far Siders constructed an obsidian gate in an attempt to access what they thought was heaven. You must understand that in this time the Far Side was as devoted as much to religion as it was to crystal magic. The creator activated it using a dark method; the sacrifice of a victim. When the gate opened and they were about to step through something went wrong. The portals roiling blue energies were washed away by a sea of ink that brought forth the demonic entities that now plague you: The Darkness. The Darkness is a demonic horde of endless torment that resides in an unknown dimension and the dimensions they have broken. They possess an insatiable hunger for souls and suffering and spend their time creating new ways to bring ruin to everything they can find. The Atmos is their new conquest. When they spilled through that corrupted portal they slew every living creature in the Far Side. But they were banished. A lone warrior; a knight of the far side was the sole survivor and he fought their master. The knight made a bargain with him. If he won their duel then the darkness must leave and couldn't return. The master made his demand; if he killed the knight they could return through the portal while it was active. In the duel which lasted 7 hours non-stop the knight finally pierced the demons heart with a lance of pure silver. But with its last dying breath the demon impaled him on spine of pure darkness. Both fell. The demons master was dead so they must leave but the knight was slain so they could return when the portal was activated again. One of your Cyclonians did just that."

Cyclonis struggled to take it all in. "So how are they here if the Storm Hawks closed the portal when we left?"

The Far Side is part of the same dimension as the Atmos- it is just a faraway place. Portal or not the demons now have a foothold in a new dimension, one with ample pickings for them to devour. They have many shrines around the Atmos-like the one we are in now. These pentagrams mark areas where the darkness can enter our world through."

Cyclonis was scared "BUT THERES A PENTAGRAM HERE!"

"I deactivated it. By breaking but a single line, by which I mean severing it, the entire thing will cease to function. However, if powerful enough demon, like the master, turns their gaze to a pentagram that is at least half complete then it can re draw it from any dimension. Now the darkness owns the Far Side and will be coming for the rest of the Atmos. As long as there is at least a single shadow in a dimension then a pentagram can be used. The pentagram, however, can only spawn shadows depending on how many souls the master of the shadows has taken from the dimension. They act as a sort of currency for buying new soldiers. Souls from other dimensions don't count though. To bring shadows to this dimension the master must claim Atmosian souls. He gains a soul every time a shadow kills someone. Your Cyclonian guards have just made him rich.

Cyclonians was overcome with guilt. She dropped to her knees. "So it's all my fault" she sobbed. I've single-handedly damned the Atmos. Tears began to slowly crawl down her pale skin.

"No, child. The ancient Far Siders damned the Atmos. You may have fuelled the master's war machine but you never drew it here."

"Then how do I stop The Darkness?" Cyclonis recovered from her depression.

"You must purge the darkness's influence from the Atmos."

"But why me, why not the sky knights. After all it is their duty to vanquish evil. And my own troops tried to kill me. They have completely lost loyalty."

"You will find the perpetrator of their betrayal when the time comes. And when it does his life will be in your hands. You must stop the darkness, but to do so you must travel the Atmos. If you don't succeed, however, the consequences will be unspeakable."

Cyclonis then suddenly noticed something. "Oracle, your eyes are closed. Why is that?"

"Because I have stared into the future and it wounded me. The vision I saw of what will befall the Atmos has been branded on my mind. Now I must share it with you"

"Wait, don't you…AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"

_Black skies, eternal night, raining shadows._

Cyclonis fell to her knees, clutching her head in her hands.

_Screaming souls, bloodied corpse, piercing eyes._

Her back arched and she let out an agonising scream.

_Brass body, grinding gears, emotionless iron._

"MAKE…IT…END"

_An endless nightmare of inky skies, murderous shadows and clockwork demons._

Cyclonis woke from the nightmarish vision in extreme panic. Her heart was pounding her ribs and her vision was blurred. It was several minutes before she calmed again.

"Do you see why the darkness must be stopped" The Oracle asked its tone devoid of any emotion.

"Yes" Was all Cyclonis could manage.


	3. Chapter 3: Bad To Worse

**Erm, hi. I think this is how you do author notes. Well hope it works. Now, I would have done this for the other chapters but I didn't know how. I still am not sure if I am doing it right. Anyways, the first 2 chapters are pretty dark and depressing. Don't let that put you off. It does lighten up; but they were just to make the point of how big a deal this whole darkness thing is. I will be bringing in more of the characters we all know and love as it progresses. Hope someone actually read this.**

**Chapter 3**

"You are not ready to save the Atmos. Not yet. You lack the means to do so and so you must go, build your strength and gather what you need." The Oracle spoke without confidence, as if it doubted its own powers of foresight.

"I can't do it" Cyclonis spoke quietly. "You saw what I saw and I just can't do it, I nearly died fighting just one of them!"

"You have doubts. But you can't let them hold you back. If you do then you will never leave this place alive."

Cyclonis couldn't hide her surprise, or anger. "What do you mean I won't leave here alive?" she demanded.

The Oracle pointed to the broken pentagram. It begun to re draw itself and soon it would be completed.

"The master has waited a long time to claim this world. He will endeavour to keep his access as open as possible. Even though he is aware we are here he doesn't know your significance. He will remain ignorant of your potential until you cripple his forces. Enjoy your anonymity while you can Cyclonis"

"What are you talking about?"

"Goodbye"

"Wait!"

The Oracle faded away just as the pentagram was finished. It begun to glow dark with unholy energies and soon shadows were forming within its perimeters. Cyclonis drew her sickle and ran as fast as she could. She could here screeching and hissing behind her and knew they had given chase. Cyclonis ran through corridor after corridor, down passages and tunnels. It never seemed to end, although the noises emanating from behind her grew fainter. At last there was a light, bright and blinding. Cyclonis walked slowly towards it and fell. Pulling her face out the sand she looked back to see a hole in the side of the temple.

"No" She muttered as she saw the world change. The bright light was gone, evaporating into a painfully pale green. It grew darker as every doubt she had ever felt has replayed over and over in her head.

"He delights in torturing mortals. He may not know your significance but he will still destroy you if you don't run" Cyclonis could hear the Oracles voice in her mind.

_Tainted._

Cyclonis ran off into the desert, desperate to get away.

_Corrupted._

The voice taunted her, its cold delight at her fear sending chills down her spine.

_Broken._

"What do you want?!" Cyclonis stopped and shouted before running again.

_You never really left, did you?_

Cyclonis could feel her heart pounding against her ribs.

_The darkness claims all. Night time always comes._

The fear gripped her, and it wouldn't let go.

_Submit. You know you can't resist. The will deserts you._

Cyclonis couldn't outrun it. The creature was everywhere.

_If they don't claim you then the desert will. You can't run forever._

Her vision blurred. Her feet lost their balance. She fell.

_No escape._

Cyclonis slowly opened her eyes. It took a great deal of effort. She could see two faces looking down at her. One had smooth, brown skin with blue hair and kind, amber eyes. The other had quite pale skin with spikes of red hair and emerald eyes.

"Well what do we have here?" Aerrow asked mockingly.

They smiled down at her. They had a victorious look in their eyes and were clearly pleased.

Cyclonis groaned. She didn't have time for this. And if they handed her over to the Atmosian authority then she would be locked up for life. This, she reasoned, would be bad.

Cyclonis tried moving. She was bound to a table by her hands and ankles using rope.

"Let me go" Cyclonis said, the threat in her voice clear.

"Were not gonna do that" Piper replied

"So" said Aerrow, getting straight to the point. "What were you doing to end up dehydrated in the desert?"

Cyclonis really didn't have the patience for this. "I was fucking dying what do you think I was doing?" She snapped back.

"We men before that" said Piper, her voice patient. "You were alone so we assumed there was Cyclonians somewhere nearby.

"Just why weren't you with them?" Aerrow.

"BECAUSE THEY TRIED TO KILL ME!" Cyclonis shouted back.

Piper and Aerrow looked at each other, concerned. They hadn't been expecting this.

"When I escaped from the Far Side" Cyclonis paused briefly, seeming upset. She continued. "The Cyclonian destroyer you ran from also tried to kill me" Her sadness dissolved into anger. "THEN I CRAWLED ACROSS THE FUCKING DESERT, ONLY TO BE TOLD BY THE ORACLE WERE ALL GOING TO FUCKING DIE, THEN RAN BACK ACROS THE DESERT BEING ATTACKED BY GOD KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK THAT THING WAS!"

Piper and Aerrow took a step back.

"AND NOW I'M TIED TO A TABLE IN THIS SHITHOLE YOU CALL A CARRIER WHILE WHATEVER ATTACKED ME IN THE FUCKING DESERT PREPARES TO WIPE OUT EVERY LAST TRACE OF LIFE IN THE FUCKING ATMOS!"

Piper and Aerrow stood in stunned silence while Cyclonis calmed slightly.

Finn burst through the door.

"Erm we got a problem dudes"

"FUCKING GREAT" Cyclonis shouted at him.

Finn looked slightly shocked. Aerrow looked at him and uneasily asked what was wrong.

Finn paused briefly. "There might be a Cyclonian destroyer heading straight for us with a shit tonne of cannons"

Piper and Aerrow ran through while Cyclonis quietly took a moment to assess the situation.

"On the bridge everyone stood in stunned silence, staring at the crimson behemoth as it steadily floated towards them, gun decks bristling with an unusually large and frankly unnecessary amount of cannons.

"Were doomed"

**Baboom, Stork moment. But seriously hope you enjoyed it because it was fun writing. Next chapter out shortly. Sianara(****think that's how you spell it)**


	4. Chapter 4: Destroyer

**Chapter 4**

The cruiser was now within firing range. It unleashed all its fury at the Condor. Bolts of raw energy ripped across the Condors hull, biting deep. They couldn't stand idly by so the storm hawks sprang into action. Mounting their skimmers they flew out to defend against the approaching wave of Talon troops. Stork attempted to avoid the hail of energy that threatened to rip the Condor apart as Junko headed towards the cruiser, intent on silencing its guns. 16 missiles should have been easily enough to take out a Cyclonian destroyer's armament but it wasn't. This cruiser packed extra firepower. No matter how hard he tried Stork couldn't avoid all the shots and no matter how hard he tried Junko couldn't silence all the guns. The Storm Hawks possessed one advantage however; with its massive armament the destroyer severely lacked room for a sizeable hangar and there were few Talons to challenge them in the air. Or so they thought. A second wave of Talons twice the size of the first poured out an open hatch on the bottom of the destroyer. Outnumbered, outgunned and fighting a hopeless battle the Storm Hawks retreated. Aerrow darted through clouds of Cyclonian skimmers, cutting through them with his dual daggers while Finn brought down scores of them with incredible accuracy and a powerful crossbow. Piper battered them aside with her crystal staff and Junko obliterated them with missiles. It wasn't enough.

Back on the Condor Cyclonis was raging. While she ship shook from the pounding it was taking courtesy of the destroyer's cannons she was still tied up. If a Cyclonian boarding party assaulted the ship, which they certainly would, she would be defenceless. Suddenly there was an explosion and the wall ripped away leaving a gaping hole in the side of the ship. Shards of broken metal sprayed from the explosion and straight at Cyclonis. They sheared the restraints off but sliced deep into her. "AAARRRGGGHH!" she screamed as pain shot through her body from her multiple deep cuts. She rolled off the table and somehow managed to land on her feet. She reached for her sickle, which wasn't there, and felt a sharp pain in her hand. She looked at the back of it to see a small, sharp fragment of the wall embedded there. She gripped it, took a deep breath, and pulled. "rrrggghh" It hurt badly but the shrapnel came out, and so did quite a lot of blood. It would continue to bleed for at least another 15 minutes. A thought suddenly hit Cyclonis. _I'm unarmed._

She sprinted down a corridor, easier said than done when you have several deep cuts across your legs, and reached what she guessed must be the storage room. There were crates of food, fuel and equipment. She grabbed her satchel, some food and fuel and finally her sickle. She turned around to see a Cyclonian soldier standing there. Clad in a red and green uniform covering his entire body save for his head, upon which rested a grey, open fronted helmet and red goggles. He carried a long, thin staff with a Firebolt crystal embedded in the end. He charged straight for her, after some hesitation, and swung his staff at her. Cyclonis ducked his clumsy sweep and swung her sickle from the right straight for his exposed throat. He grabbed her wrist with his left hand and stopped her, mid swing. Dropping the staff (it was no good up close) he backhanded Cyclonis with such force she fell to the floor. As she climbed unsteadily to her feet he gripped her throat in both of his strong hands, pushed her up against a wall, and constricted. Struggling for breath Cyclonis kicked at him but he wouldn't move. He just tightened his choking grip till she couldn't breathe at all. Her pale purple eyes stared into the red lenses of his goggles with a pleading look, begging for mercy. She got none. Cyclonis could feel her grip on consciousness loosening as her vision grew blurred and her oxygen starved brain hurt. Then she felt something underneath her foot. The sickle. She slid it so it was between her legs, gripped it beneath her feet and brought it up.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!"

It carved into the Cyclonian Talons flesh and ripped a jagged hole in his uniform. He immediately let go and dropped to the floor.

Cyclonis was upon him in an instant, gripping his helmet and pulling his face close to hers. She held the sickle to his throat.

"You tried to kill me. WHY?!"

His lips parted a little and blood trickled out. "Orders" He coughed, spraying blood.

"His name. I want his name" Cyclonis pressed the sickle closer.

The Talon breathed his last breaths but as his grip on life was released he uttered the name.

"Snipe" His heart stopped beating.

"FUCK!" Cyclonis shouted. Snipe had been one of her commanding officers. Near the top he took his orders from her and no other. Well, sometimes Dark Ace. But he had been loyal to her. To some degree. He was the younger brother of Ravess who had also been one of her highest ranking underlings, now banished for incompetence. With Snipe pulling the strings the Cyclonian empire would be doomed. He displayed extremely limited intelligence and a reputation for brutality. His aggressive nature would result in him making poorly thought out decisions and his lack of good tactics would lead to him trying to win through numbers and brute force. He would lead the Talons to their deaths in pointless and easily avoidable confrontations and destroy what professionalism they had. Her empire would crumble and she needed to regain control.

In the skies of the Atmos the battle still raged. Piper's heli-scooter was lying somewhere in the depths of the wasteland with many Talons and their skimmers. She was forced to ride on the back of Aerrows. They flew back into the Condor with their skimmers damaged and sprinted to the command bridge. Stork was trying to fight off 3 Talons with a frying pan. It wasn't going well.

"Get off my ship!" His poorly aimed swings missed while the Talons jabbed at him with their staffs. They didn't notice the rest of the Storm Hawks until Junko was throwing them out of a shattered window.

"We need out of here now Stork" Aerrow said, his voice urgent.

The ship shook some more.

"We can't outrun them in this state. They're closing in"

"Then take us into the wasteland"

"Fire scorpions, lava eels and burning lakes of magma. Sure, I can do that" Stork didn't sound confident.

Cyclonis burst into the hanger to see the skimmers lined up.

"Perfect"

She took Aerrow's; the least damaged, and sped out the ship, deployed the wings, and flew out into the sky. Cyclonis looked to the right. Terra Aquanos was close by. She flew towards it, cannon fire exploding around her as the Cyclonian cruiser abandoned its pursuit of the Storm Hawks. She looked back to see how far away she was from it and noticed another skimmer following her. Finn. She went flat out towards terra Aquanos with Finn hot on her tail. She had to stay out of his range at all costs or it would be game over. Just as she thought she was free Cyclonis heard a loud noise behind her. She turned to see the engine burst into flames and the skimmer spiralled from the sky towards terra Aquanos.

"Not again" She remembered her situation in Saharr all too well and didn't want to crash again.

As Finn retreated back to the Condor Cyclonis' hijacked skimmer smashed into the side of the rocky crater surrounding Aquanos. She was thrown off the skimmer into the rock, hard, and, as she felt pain shoot through her body, everything went black.


	5. Chapter 5: Terra Aquanos

**Hi whoever bothers to acknowledge this particular set of author's notes existence. This chapter is a little different. Not a lot will happen as it is a setup for the next one which will knock your socks off (not literally)**

**Chapter 5**

Cyclonis awoke lying on some very uncomfortable rock. Beside her were the remnants of what was once Aerrow's skimmer. Her satchel was, miraculously, still in one piece. Her sickle was also still in one piece (albeit a little more bent than it used to be). Cyclonis could feel a pain in her head. She moved her fingers up, brought them back down again, and there was blood on them. Cyclonis rose to her feet, looked up the crater she needed to reach the top of, cursed and then set off. The ascent was slow and difficult. There were no paths and the rock was uneven. If she fell she wouldn't get back up again. Ever.

Finally Cyclonis reached the summit. She looked down into the crater to see a relatively small settlement beside a huge lake. The settlement had piers and docks that were being worked by Aquanosians and several shops were scattered across the row of buildings along the street. Terra Aquanos. Cyclonis, making sure she was out of sight, slid quietly down the inside of the crater until she reached the bottom. The base of the crater was at the edge of an alley past someone's house. She walked through the alley and onto the street. On one side was a row of houses and shops, on the other was some railings and a metre or two below that was the lake. Cyclonis walked down the street and scanned the shops, searching for an apothecary. When she finally found one Cyclonis entered to be greeted by a dark green skinned Aquanosian with large glasses. He wore brown, smart clothes with a red tie. Clearly he was upper-class.

"Well hello there young lady what can I do ya for?" He asked, his voice deep but caring.

"You got anything for this?" Cyclonis pointed up to the large graze on her forehead.

"That's some nasty wound ya got there, let me see what I got." He began rummaging through a crate behind him and, seconds later, produced a small, bright green nil crystal.

"Got a fresh nil crystal here if you want it" He held it out to Cyclonis.

"Great" Cyclonis reached out for it but he moved it close to his chest.

"How much ya offering for it?" His smile was sly.

Cyclonis rummaged through her satchel. "I've got 50 gold"

"That all ya got?"

"Yes, I just said that"

"I don't know if that will cut it"

"Come on, it's all I've got"

"I want at least 65 for it. Go get some more gold and then we can talk"

Cyclonis sighed in frustration then walked out. "Bastard" she muttered under her breath.

She briefly considered drawing her sickle and taking it but if he told the neck deeps, the local sky knight squadron, then she wouldn't get off this terra. Cyclonis walked down the street, looking for any money making opportunities. There was plenty of ways to spend gold but none to make it.

Cyclonis looked to the sky and noticed the sun was going down, illuminating the sky with an amber glow. She turned and noticed an inn. The sign read the Fisherman's Friend. With nowhere else to rest Cyclonis sighed and walked in.

The inn was well decorated and lit with many braziers and lamps nailed to walls or hanging from the ceiling. Many paintings, all of which were fishing themed, were pinned up on the pale blue walls. Cyclonis walked to the innkeeper to ask for a room when she felt a pain in her stomach. She was starving. She hadn't eaten for at least 15 hours. Checking the menu she paid 10 gold for a low quality meal. Then, paying another 5 pieces for a room set off to walk there.

"Hey" Cyclonis turned to see a dark haired young man in jeans and a white T-shirt standing there. "You here alone?" He asked.

Cyclonis was confused. She didn't know what to say. It was a long time since she'd flirted with anyone. Then there was the problem that she didn't feel anything at all for him.

"Um, hi" She replied, shyly.

"Hey" he said slightly awkwardly "Can I buy you a drink?"

Cyclonis only had 35 gold on her. She didn't see the harm. Besides, she knew she wouldn't be able to get to sleep for a few hours and she was really bored.

"Sure" She accepted.

"Hey innkeeper, can we get some drinks"

The tall, muscular man walked over, cleaning a glass. "What ye want?"

The guy looked inquisitively at Cyclonis who replied "Whatever he's having"

"Two brandy's please" He asked.

The innkeeper produced two glasses each filled with golden-brown liquid. "4 gold"

The young man handed it over then he and Cyclonis took their seats at a table.

"So, beautiful what do they call ya?"

Cyclonis blushed slightly. She knew she couldn't use her real name. "Lark" she lied.

"I'm Calamos. It means reeds"

_Wow, this guy tries way too hard_ thought Cyclonis.

"So, where are you from?" Cyclonis asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

"Here" He replied. "Lived here all my life"

"Ever been to another Terra?"

"No, but I want to. So, Lark, where did you come from?"

"Atmosia" Cyclonis lied.

"What's it like there?"

"Lots of people. Apart from houses, shops, markets and a little bit of woodland there isn't much"

"So what brought you here?"

"Wanted to see what the rest of the Atmos was like" Cyclonis found it amusing how easy to fool this guy was.

"So, been to any other Terras?"

"This is my second"

"I see"

Another hour or two of conversation and a lot of drinks the two ended up in Cyclonis' room, talking about where they wanted to go.

"I, I hear they have aammaazziinngg races on SSSaharrrrr" Calamos slurred.

"I know, rriigghhtt" Cyclonis replied.

The two looked at each other and before either of them realised what was happening they were kissing, and embracing each other.

_Black skies, eternal night, raining shadows._

Cyclonis shot up like a bullet. She sat there, breathing deep and heavy. She felt hot and here head ached agonisingly. She looked around her surroundings. The room was small, dark and decorated with a single picture of the lake just outside.

_My room. The inn._

Cyclonis looked down and realised, to her horror, that she was naked. To her right, lying beside her was the guy who tried chatting her up. He was equally naked. Cyclonis wasn't sure what to do. She decided she would just forget this event and so she quietly got out of bed, put on her clothes, grabbed her satchel and sickle, took 100 gold pieces from Calamos' jeans pockets, and left the inn. She opened the door and was momentarily blinded with a bright golden light.

_Sunrise_

After her head stopped aching so badly Cyclonis walked down to the docks. They had a launch ramp and a couple of skimmers. If she could rent one she could leave the Terra, and not worry about returning it.

"_You can't leave"_

Cyclonis could hear the Oracle's voice in her mind.

"_While the darkness prepares to drown the Terra you must strike it"_

Cyclonis panicked. If the darkness was here she wanted to get off this drowned rock sooner.

"_You know you must rid this Terra of the darkness"_

It was true. Cyclonis knew, deep down, that the only way she could be free of this nightmare was to face it. She couldn't stand that thought.

"_The caves below the lake of Aquanos reach the Far Side. They hold ancient shrines. You know what you must do"_

With fear gripping her heart Cyclonis talked to a grumpy Aquanosian by the docks and rented a diving suit for 10 gold. After droning out his long warnings about going too far into the caves Cyclonis dived down. Cyclonis swam deeper into the lake with each passing second. Her vision was tinted blue and she could see schools of fish and seaweed scattered across the colossal lake before her. Spotting a cave near the bottom of the lake she swam down.

"Let's get this over with"


	6. Chapter 6: hidden shrine

**The last chapter was a little different. That was because I needed to setup a confrontation between Cyclonis and the shadows. I promise that something will actually happen in this one.**

**Chapter 6**

Cyclonis dived deeper and deeper. She could see faint, wispy shadows below and moved to investigate. Her heart beat faster and faster as she hid behind a rock, trying to see what was in the cave without being noticed. Suddenly a massive, thick, inky cloud of black smoke poured out of the cave and headed straight for the surface. It went past Cyclonis as she cowered in her hiding place. She decided she would wait a couple of minutes before entering. When she was ready she swam down and through the entrance.

After swimming down a several meter long tunnel she emerged from a pool and into a large room cut into the rock. Removing her helmet and quietly pacing it on the floor she looked up to see four pedestals with torches on top burned around a pentagram in the middle of the room. Cyclonis struggled with her emotions as she recalled the temple on Saharr. Cyclonis scanned the room with her pale purple eyes, looking for any sign of danger. Seeing nothing she moved to inspect the pentagram.

"_Not welcome here"_

Cyclonis drew her sickle and looked around.

"_Such a lonely place to die"_

Fear gripped Cyclonis' heart and refused to release its ice cold fingers.

"_Why do you come here?"_

Cyclonis was unsure whether to reply or not but fear kept her silent.

"_Execute this trespasser"_

Cyclonis turned to see a large, metal construct standing immobile by the wall. It was at least 10 foot tall. She was only about 5,5. A wispy shadow drifted from the pentagram and brought life to its cold brass. Slowly the hundreds of cogs and gears that formed its body, held together by thick brass rods, begun to turn. They made a loud noise akin to a blacksmith's hammer hitting the hot metal on an anvil. The gears inside its skeletal brass body sped up until the abomination began moving. It took slow, heavy steps towards Cyclonis, each one shaking and echoing around the dim room. Cyclonis noticed a long, thin, retractable blade slide from its sheath where its right hand should be while the strings on an ornate crossbow taking the place of its left hand were pulled back by crawling cogs. A large crossbow bolt pushed up from a compartment beneath the crossbow, no doubt containing more, and was loaded into the weapon. The clockwork giant's face was a dull, blackened mask or iron with cruel eyes staring blindly at Cyclonis and mouth without the slightest shred of emotion. It walked steadily loser to Cyclonis, moving faster now, until it was within slashing range. I's long blade swung in a huge arc and Cyclonis barely ducked it as it cut at least 7 inches into the solid limestone of the cave wall to its left. Regaining its stance it stabbed, once again only barely missing as Cyclonis jumped to the side. She rushed forwards before it recovered and thrust the sickle into the cogs spinning in its stomach. They continued turning, snapping the sickles curved blade of and leaving Cyclonis with only a handle and 5 inches of jagged metal. The blade was pulled further in and jammed the cogs. For a few seconds the cogs were unmoving until, with creaking noises, they mashed the metal curve into tiny pieces. Cyclonis had no effective weapon now, not that it was really any good in the first place, and could only back away as the clockwork entity lumbered after her, gears grinding. She reached into her satchel to attempt to find anything capable of damaging it. After a few seconds and a lot of cursing she pulled out a reddish-orange fuel crystal.

She charged straight for the clockwork demon and, ducking under its blade, jammed the crystal into its gears. She jumped back as the crystal began to glow bright white. Cyclonis dived behind a rock as the volatile crystal detonated, shattering the brass abomination and spraying sharp, hot shrapnel all across the room.

"_Do not be alarmed. It is I, the Oracle. You have defeated the brass guardian, a powerful clockwork device created to guard this shrine. Now you must erase the pentagram. Hurry, before the master turns his attention upon this place"_

Without word Cyclonis did as she was told. With a piece of the broken machines arm she scraped away the supernatural ink until only faint blurs remained, scattered across the floor in a non-existent pattern.

"_You have done well. Without you that pentagram would have continued to release shadows upon terra Aquanos. You should go to the surface. Discover the settlements fate"_

Cyclonis did just that. After swimming up she climbed out onto the docks. Removing the diving suit and leaving it where she emerged Cyclonis looked around her. The metal walkways were empty and she heard only faint murmurs of conversation in the distance, too quiet to understand. Walking out onto the street she saw The Neck Deeps. They were stood around discussing the situation. The street had several corpses lying on it, all with deep, vicious wounds. Blood was pooling in several areas and there was ink splatters in several places.

_Shadows._

"Hey, you!" Tritonn, the blue skinned Aquanosian that led the small sky knight squadron ran over.

"It's not safe out here, get inside quickly"

"No, you can't command m…."

"No time for protesting, get in there"

Cyclonis was sent into the inn before she could protest. There were many people inside, looking pretty shaken up. She sat in silence among the crowd. There was lots of conversation regarding the nature of the threat.

"It's them Cyclonians I tells ye" A fisherman offered.

"No way. They weren't human. They were shadows man, fucking shadows!" Insisted a particularly concerned young woman.

Cyclonis knew she was right. The shadows could survive for an hour in daylight; just enough time to massacre a village.

It was at least 15 minutes later when Tritonn entered the inn and told everyone it was safe. 15 minutes of rumours and stories regarding the nature of the threat. The stories didn't stop when everyone left the inn. They would circulate for weeks, thought Cyclonis as she walked to the apothecaries. She had easily enough for the nil crystal and she didn't fancy being covered in shrapnel scars. When she entered the apothecary was nowhere to be seen. Cyclonis assumed he was hiding in the back, waiting for someone to find him. Coward. Cyclonis took advantage of the fortunate situation and just grabbed the crystal off the desk and walked out into the street. Holding the nil crystal tightly she felt strange. The skin around her wounds tingled slightly, as did the graze on her forehead. This continued for a few minutes until the sensation ended and her scars and wounds had gone. Cyclonis looked at the small, bright green crystal. It was empty, out of power already.

_Fresh crystal._ She thought. _Yeah, sure._

Checking her money Cyclonis decided she had just enough to rent a skimmer. Though in truth she had no idea where to go. Maybe she should investigate Terra Tropica. Who knew, maybe there was a shrine hidden on one of those beaches.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a shout.

"HEY, YOU!"

Cyclonis turned to see Finn, of the Storm Hawks, staring straight at her.

**CLIFFHANGER ENDING!**


	7. Chapter 7: Escaping Aquanos

**So did the clockwork killing machine in the last chapter knock off your socks? If not then you are sad and I have no desire to communicate with you further. I mean clockwork. It was foretold in the vision. No, it's not a cheap idea stole from multiple fantasy games.**

**Chapter 7**

Cyclonis turned and ran. She headed into the alleys where there were less people. Behind her she heard Finn shouting to the other Storm Hawks.

"Cyclonis just ran down that alley!" Finn shouted.

"I'm on it" She heard Piper shout.

Cyclonis quickly glanced behind to see Finn following close by her. He held his crossbow and was about to take a shot when something hit her in the side. Cyclonis fell to the ground and looked up to see Piper trying to pin her down. Cyclonis pushed, trying to get her off. When she was finally successful Finn grabbed her. Cyclonis caught him in the nose with a quick right hook and he fell backwards. Turning to face Piper Cyclonis swung her left fist at her. Dodging it, Piper hit Cyclonis in the stomach then grabbed her wrists, twisted them behind her back, forced her to the ground and restrained her. Finn slowly climbed to his feet, his nose bleeding.

"GET OFF ME" Cyclonis shouted back to Piper who was struggling to keep her grip.

"Aye, get off her. She's ours." came a deep, threatening voice from nearby.

Looking up at the figure that stood before them the Storm Hawks let go of Cyclonis and drew their weapons. In response the scruffy man pulled out a rusty blade from its scabbard on his belt.

"In fact, you're all ours" He said. His voice was sadistic and he grinned cruelly. "3 young, fit slaves for the mines" He added.

As he charged Finn put a crossbow bolt into his wrist. He turned away with a shout of pain as his wrist exploded in a spray of blood and bone. Drowning out his screams was the sound of cannons and explosions as a huge ship loomed over the settlement. It was long and wide, its hull black with fire painted across the thick armour and rows of cannons, none of which were powered by crystals. Instead they fired large balls of metal that smashed through anything they hit. Smaller ships-about half the size of the Condor, flew to the ground and begun deploying hordes of dirty, scruffy murderers armed with weapons that lacked crystals. Large warriors with decorations ranging from antlered helms to the skeletons of dead victims tied to their backs barked orders at the many pirates around them. The Iron Militia had come. The Storm Hawks ran to help the panicking civilians while Cyclonis grabbed the rusty cutlass from the wounded thug and headed to the docks. She needed to get off Aquanos. As she turned the corner there were 2 more thugs. Both wielded cutlasses. One, like her own, was rusty while the other was a dull, worn grey. Probably iron.

"What we got 'ere then?" One asked

"Looks like the little girl got lost"

"Ya know little girls shouldn't play with swords" His face twisted into a menacing grin.

Cyclonis took no chances and struck before they raised their blades. She cut off the arm of the right one then stabbed the left one through the heart. Replacing her rusty blade with an iron one Cyclonis pressed on towards the docks. She hoped the landing strip wasn't in too bad a condition.

As she ran across the metal walkways and paths her heart sank like the small pier to the left that had just suffered several cannonball hits. The landing strip was in pieces and had huge gouges in it where cannonballs had torn into it. The skimmers were also all gone, taken by scared civilians trying to flee. Cyclonis looked to see the Condor, in even worse condition than it had been when she escaped it, was trying to evade the brutal cannon fire that would surely break it. The Neck Deeps and Storm Hawks struggled to repel the attackers as they fell upon them in impossible numbers.

Victory looked impossible. The Iron Militia were swift and merciless. Then things went wrong. For everyone. A Cyclonian Destroyer drifted towards the Terra and the Iron Militia ship. When in range it unleashed the firepower of its unusually high amount of cannons. It was clearly a different ship- it didn't bear the scars the Storm Hawks caused. The ship then released a thick cloud of skimmers to attack the Terra. The Neck Deeps were close to abandoning the Terra when the Cyclonian ship, previously thought to be working alongside the Iron Militia, opened fire on them. The rows of cannons on the Iron Militia leviathan tore into the Cyclonian Destroyer with a ferocity unmatched by any other ship Cyclonis had seen.

The Destroyer's cannon decks were pummelled into oblivion, as were the engines. The ship began to slowly sink as the engines grew weak from their punishment. Finally, with a deafening creak, the ship tore off the engines, which remained in the sky for two or three seconds before realising the fuel line was cut and falling. As the ship hit the ground it bore a crater into the side of the existing one and kicked up a storm of dust and rock. With their foes defeated and a good supply of prisoners the Iron Militia warship drifted away.

As the last carrier prepared to join the others in the mother ship's hangar Cyclonis jumped onto it. Without it her only way off the Terra would be the Storm Hawks and this didn't appeal to her. As she entered through the hangar she slit the throat of a resting thug, from behind, before heading down the corridor. Upon reaching the bridge she felt a sudden pain in the back of her head. Then everything went black.

**This chapter is admittedly short. I shall have to make the next one a good bit longer. Toodle-pipski.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Cremator

**Chapter 8**

**Ready for my latest story? Hungering for the sequel to the amazingly average chapter 7? Then stop reading these notes and start reading the story. Really. Do it.**

Cyclonis and the rest of the prisoners were lead down grey, metal corridors. The walls were dented and poorly shaped-whoever built this ship was unskilled.

_Unless it was deliberate_ thought Cyclonis.

There were about 20 prisoners with Cyclonis but she knew at least another 80 had been taken to other decks.

They eventually emerged into a large room, its walls equally dull and poorly shaped. To the right the wall was black and charred and shirtless, tattooed men stood with flamethrowers over several burnt corpses. At the opposite end of the room from the corridor entrance but facing it were a few steps leading up to a large throne. On it, flanked by more tattooed warriors, sat a figure of immense stature. He wore a suit of armour consisting of many thick, blackened plates with images of fire painted across them. His helm was equally black and shaped like a human skull. Behind it were eyes empty of mercy. Their cruel, sadistic stare burning through any confidence Cyclonis could have possibly felt. This was Pyro. The most feared pirate in the Atmos.

"What have we here?" He asked, his voice deep and threatening.

"We selected 20 of the prisoners, as you asked lord" Replied a guard.

"Good. I won't have to burn you alive. Now, you 20 are lucky. You have the pleasure of meeting me which few prisoners get. I'm here to let you know the rules before you scurry off to the rest of the wretches I tore from that drowned pisshole you call a terra and repeat what I say. Rule 1; you are all my bitches. This means what I say goes. If I tell you to dip your balls in molten iron you fucking well do it. Rule 2; you have no rights. If I want to sell you into slavery I will. Finally you are all wastes of space and if you don't follow the rules I just gave you then I will pull your spines out and force them down your scrawny little necks until you stop trying to scream. Any questions?"

No one answered.

"Good. Now in case your just completely and utterly fucked and you don't believe I will carry out my threats I would like one of you to disobey."

Everyone cowered in fear, but no one dared move.

"FUCKING DISOBEY!" He roared.

"No"

Pyro looked into the eyes of a middle aged man in scruffy clothes. He smiled inside his helmet. A chance to show the others the price of disobedience.

"You know I respect you for that. You got balls. Unfortunately I'm gonna have to burn them off for disobedience."

The man's eyes were wide with fear. "But you said…"

"Over there" Pyro interrupted, pointing to the burnt side of the room.

The man tried to step back but a thug dragged him over and threw him to the ground. Pyro nodded to the tattooed men and they turned, spraying jets of flame across the unfortunate man.

"AAARRRGGGHHH!" he screamed in agony as his skin blistered and burned. He finally dropped to the floor, dead.

"That is the price of disobedience. Remember that."

Pyro walked calmly to his throne while the remaining prisoners were herded down into the holding cells.

Cyclonis was fortunate to be given a cell on her own. The last thing she needed was to be distracted by the citizens and their complaining. She needed space to think. All her possessions had been taken and were probably being fought over. She decided the best thing she could do was to sit back and come up with a plan of escape. But how? The ship was twice the size of a Cyclonian destroyer and had easily 1000 crew members. Probably a few hundred more. Escape wasn't possible alone and no one here would make suitable allies. Cyclonis decided the only course of action she could take was to sit glumly on her bed and wait for the helmsman to get drunk and fly into something. Hardly the best plan.

It had been 3 days. 3 days spent in a small cell with nothing to entertain her but her boredom. She was vaguely aware of some important transaction occurring between the Iron Militia and Murk raiders. She knew this from over hearing the loud, often drunken conversations of the guards. Apparently, Pyro was planning a double cross. Cyclonis wasn't surprised. He was merciless, cruel, unstable and honestly scared her. She'd seen a lot of things. She'd been responsible for most of them. But not once in all her time as empress of Cyclonia, an empire ruled by dictatorship and hell-bent on enslaving the Atmos, had she ever encountered or heard of anyone like Pyro. He was sadistic and she doubted that any of her underlings would even consider fighting someone like him. Including the Dark Ace, had she not accidently overloaded him in the binding. Cyclonis came to the sudden realisation that, despite her being 17 now, she had little experience of the world beyond her own terra and, for the first time in years, she was truly alone. Ever since she took the throne she hadn't any friends but there was always someone there to help her. Always someone to look out for her. But not now. Now she was in the worst situation of her life and was completely isolated from anyone who would even consider helping her. The thought hurt. A lot.

Cyclonis found herself wishing the Storm Hawks would make an appearance. She came to the realisation that she had never encountered an opponent that was truly cruel. Many people in the Atmos wanted her dead but they weren't sadists. Even the Storm Hawks, with their quest to defeat her, didn't do it for perverse pleasure. They did it for others. The Iron Militia were too much. Too cruel. Too uncaring.

Cyclonis was woken from her thoughts by a loud bang and the sound of metal breaking. The wall on the other side of the corridor to her cell bars tore open. Another shot flew through and melted a hole clean through her bars. Cyclonis looked and saw similar sights along the corridor.

_Break the wall and melt the bars. Free the prisoners and start a riot._

Makes sense Cyclonis thought as she ran out into the corridor, seeking an improvised weapon. Finding a dead thug lying on the floor she attempted to pick up his iron hammer. After a few seconds she realised it was too heavy.

"The prisoners have escaped!"

Cyclonis looked at the speakers in the corner of the corridor. No doubt they were all over the ship to spread messages in times of panic. Now everyone knew her and another 90-something people were free. She turned to see a thug approaching her with his longsword. As he swung Cyclonis ducked and rushed forward. Bringing her fist into his gut with all her strength and a short run up achieved a grunt of discomfort. Then he swung again. She slipped to the side and went for the face. As her fist impacted he dropped his blade and she caught it by the handle.

_Oh wow, I actually caught it._

She ran him through with it before pulling it out and letting his corpse drop. Then she heard shouts of panic. She turned to see a group of the shirtless men, tattooed with images of fire, approaching with their flamethrowers. They released jets of searing fire into the panicking crowd and the fire quickly spread. The crowd was halved in seconds. Cyclonis turned and sprinted down the opposite corridor. She had to find the hangar. With any luck they'd have a skimmer she could use. But luck didn't favour Cyclonis that day, although it hadn't favoured her a quite a while now, and her problems stacked up as she heard news over the speakers that Pyro himself was gunning for any prisoners that had escaped. There was, however, a silver lining in the form of a large boarding party of Murk raiders making their presence known on the varying gun decks that housed the Cremators broadsides. At least the crew of the Cremator were distracted.

_Cremator_ thought Cyclonis, hearing the ships name over the ship-wide speaker system. _How imaginative_

Gripping the iron longsword in her right hand she turned another corner. She had to find a way off this ship before the Murk raiders destroyed it, which she was pretty sure they would. As Cyclonis turned another corner she stopped. In front of her was the janitor's closet.

"Where do you think you're going?" came a deep voice from behind her.

Cyclonis turned and stared into merciless eyes behind a blackened skull.


	9. Chapter 9: Sky Knights

**Chapter 9**

**This chapter is a little different. Every couple of chapters will be from a different perspective for a little variety. This will be short because it is only the introduction to a second storyline occurring at the same time as Cyclonis' adventure. Motivations behind the unusual decision made days before this chapter will be revealed.**

The skies stretched out before him; an open, endless expanse of clouds and freedom. The engine of his Bone Wing skimmer growled noisily, like it always did, and he could hear the engines of the rest of his squadron.

They tore through the open sky in a direct path towards Terra Atmosia. If his decision paid off the Repton could at least convince himself he had the assistance of the other sky knights. It might help him sleep at night, he reasoned.

_God damn Snipe._ He thought.

There was no certainty but Repton firmly believed his home Terra of Bogaton was under threat. His service to Cyclonia granted Bogaton protection from invasion during the reign of Cyclonis, but that time had passed. With Snipe pulling the strings things were gonna go bad. Fast. He refused to bow before someone with such a poor understanding of how to run an empire and even if he did, Snipe wouldn't care. Like Cyclonis he was merciless, but unlike Cyclonis he didn't think things through and would launch an invasion if the thought even crossed his mind. Also, he lacked a mind for tactics. And Bogaton, with its path between Cyclonia and the rest of the Atmos, provided an extremely good barrier. It would be even better once the anti-air cannons were fixed. Then it would be almost unassailable. But to do this the Terradon scientists would be required and Repton didn't know where to find them. These reasons had led to Repton making a decision that no-one could have seen him making: he was going to Atmosia to register the Raptors as an official sky knight squadron.

The thought bothered him. He had served Cyclonia and there was no certainty that his proposal would be accepted. Even if it was the other sky knights wouldn't accept it. But what choice did he have? He hated that this was his only option besides blindly believing he could resist Cyclonia.

"Hey boss, when we arriving?" asked Leugey.

Repton growled. "Imbecile" He muttered under his breath. He couldn't stand Leugey. He was the worst excuse for a sky knight Repton had ever seen. He exhibited virtually no intelligence and his combat capabilities were just embarrassing.

A faint growling could be heard to the left. It was getting rapidly louder. Turning Repton saw a group of sky sharks heading straight for them. They were getting closer and would be in biting range in seconds. The raptors drew their swords and waited. As the first came in range Repton dodged its bite and sunk his blade in its stomach, cutting down so all that held it in one piece was the head. He could hear growls of anger from Spitz and Hoerk as they fought, and whimpers from Leugey. Turning another approached him, a few metres away. Repton smiled cruelly and threw his blade. It decapitated the sky shark, then the Scalus crystal kicked in and it returned to his hand. He glanced Hoerk cracking the skull of one with the handle of his sword and Spitz skewering one. Leugey was yet to score a kill.

With the sky shark threat slain the Raptors pressed on, eager to get to Terra Atmosia before something else went wrong.

The Bone Wing skimmers roared down to the streets and sped across the dirt road. Coming to a loud stop before the clock tower that once held the Aurora stone they dismounted and headed off down one of the many streets. People seemed to have a wide variety of reactions towards them. Some didn't register and just kept on walking, some crossed to the other side of the street and some just slipped into the shadows, whispering to one another.

The Raptors walked for about 10 minutes down the many busy streets. Stalls and shops took up most of the space with people visiting wherever they fancied. There was a sense of freedom Repton had never felt before. A feeling that you could go where you wanted, do what you wanted to do and not be judged for it. Not be expected to do things.

At last they arrived at a fairly large building. A set of double doors resided at the front with no guards. Anyone could walk in, which the Raptors did. An old man with large glasses resting on his long nose sat over a scroll reading god knows what. He looked up and Repton thought for a moment he saw a flicker of fear amidst the surprise.

"Um, hello" The old man managed.

"Hi" Leugey replied.

"Silence" Repton shot Leugey a threatening glare before turning back to the old man.

"We've come to register as a squadron"

**Alright, told you it would be short. If anyone has trouble accepting Repton's decision, which is understandable as it does seem out of character, then put yourself in his place. You know your allegiance means nothing and your home Terra will almost certainly be attacked, the only reason you were loyal to Cyclonia in the first place. What options do you have? As a sky knight you may be able to get assistance from other squadrons and bargain with other Terras for the parts to fix the anti-air cannons. So yeah. Boom.**


	10. Chapter 10: Escape

**Chapter 10**

**The last one was short and introducing anyone reading this to a second storyline happening at the same time as this one. But now, back to our anti-heroine…**

The searing jet of yellow flame tore past Cyclonis in blistering fury. She dived to the side and barely avoided it. Another came. And another. All Cyclonis could do was try to dodge the fire as she grew tired. She couldn't get close to Pyro. He halted his attack and ejected an empty fuel canister, inserting another quickly. Cyclonis took a chance and ran forward, swinging her blade towards his throat. At the last moment he raised his hand and the blade bounced off his armoured wrist. Cyclonis looked up in dismay as he drew a steel axe with his left hand and begun swinging at her. She ducked and dodged but he persisted. She could feel her heart pounding faster and she begun to slow down. Her limbs ached and felt heavy. Then she noticed an oil drum. Running past it she attempted to put as much distance between her and Pyro as possible. He unleashed the fury of his flamethrower once again and burning gas splashed across the surface of the oil drum. Cyclonis dived into the janitor's closet and slammed the door shut as she heard a loud bang. She could also hear crackling as fire and burning oil clung to the misshapen walls. Pyro lay a few metres from the remnants of the oil drum.

Cyclonis ran on down the many corridors inside the Cremator. Coming back into the hangar she noticed several large anchor-like objects stuck through the side of the hull. Approaching the open hangar bay entrance Cyclonis could see that the objects were attached to colossal chains coming from the Murk Raider ship. Murk raiders scuttled across them and Iron Militia Thugs, led by Captains, followed. Or just shot them off. A thought hit Cyclonis. The only place she was going to find a Skimmer was the Murk Raider ship. Accessing it would require her to crawl across the chains. Over the wastelands. Without a parachute. Cyclonis took a moment to prepare and begun her slow crawl to what she hoped would be her freedom. The chains wobbled and the air blew fiercely, forcing her to stop and adjust her grip regularly.

_Don't look down._

Cyclonis wasn't scared of heights; she just lacked anything to stop her splattering over the jagged grey rocks of the wasteland. She was almost across. She reached her hand out when she heard a loud, scraping, metal on metal noise. Looking back the object ripped free of the Cremator and fell. The chain went loose and Cyclonis found herself hanging on and screaming as it fell down. Crashing against the Murk Raider hull it almost shook Cyclonis off, but she hung on. She wasn't going to let go. When it finally stopped swaying too much Cyclonis climbed the few metres into the Murk Raider ship. Everywhere she looked there was dead Iron Militia, with a few Murk Raider corpses strewn around as well. Blood pooled around them. Cyclonis began exploring the ship. Any Murk Raiders that she encountered she cut down or hid from until eventually, with a lot of luck, she stepped into the hangar. Seeing several brownish-red skimmers she ran forwards. Jumping on one she started it up and flew from the hangar. As she flew off Cyclonis turned and watched as the Cremator opened up another 3 layers of broadsides that were previously concealed. The cannons lashed out in fury, tearing into the metal flesh of the Murk Raiders vessel and wounding it. The Murk Raider ship had no gun decks left; they lay in smouldering ruin as the ship slowly succumbed to the storm of metal being thrown its way. A stray cannonball struck Cyclonis' stolen skimmer and ripen off a wing.

"Not again"

For the third time that week Cyclonis fell from the sky.


	11. Chapter 11: Joint Op

**Chapter 11**

**Apologies comrades, for the extremely short last chapter. I wrote it in a hurry because I have been fair busy the last few days. It wasn't anywhere near as long as it should have been and for that I apologise lots. Anyways, back to Repton and co…**

Repton pushed the doors open and walked out into the bright Atmosian sun, the rest of the Raptors following behind.

_An official squadron._

Repton still wasn't happy about this but was certain it was the right course of action to take. After all, what else could he do? With Snipe preparing the remaining Cyclonians for a war to regain lost territory he couldn't rely on his services to protect him. Snipe would enslave his Terra.

As the Raptors walked down the street they bumped onto some familiar, but far from friendly faces.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Aerrow as he drew his daggers.

The rest of the Strom Hawks drew their weapons just after Aerrow and the Raptors responded likewise.

"Step aside boy" Repton spat the words out. "Our business is our own!"

"Why so secretive?" Finn inquired, loading a bolt into his crossbow.

"Get lost sky knights, you can't stop us" Spitz added, sneering at them.

"You couldn't be on Atmosia for anything good, so I'm going to ask again nicely. What is your business here?" Aerrow said.

"Once again, boy, our business is our own!" Spat Repton.

Junko stared at Hoerk who growled in response and powered up his sword.

"Just tell us why you're here. If the reason is legitimate then what harm could it cause?" Asked Piper, trying to calm the situation and restore order.

"You treat all your fellow sky knights like this?" Repton growled.

The Storm Hawks looked shocked.

"I'm sorry, WHAT?" Aerrow stared in disbelief.

"Why do you think we travelled all the way here" Repton bared his teeth "We came to register officially"

The Storm Hawks looked at each other, a mixture of surprise and scepticism.

"There not serious" Finn looked at Aerrow, hoping for some conformation that they were indeed lying. Aerrow looked back in equal disbelief.

The Raptors sheathed their weapons and pushed through the Storm Hawks, heading down the street to their waiting Bone Wing skimmers.

When they arrived they embarked, revved the engines for a deliberately long period of time, and then ascended to the skies back to Bogaton.

The air tore at Repton, trying in vain to pull him from his bone wing, as he thundered through the open skies. Something wasn't right though. He could hear engines, louder than even his squadrons. Then he turned in time to see a cyclonian destroyer powering through the skies. It saw the Raptors to, and opened fire with a barrage of cannon fire. Repton's squadron broke whatever formation they had and punched it back to Atmosia.

_Firing on me?_

Another shot tore past them, shaking them with displaced air as it did so.

_Let's hope being a sky knight gets me some allies._

The Raptors saw the Condor preparing to take to the skies as they returned to Atmosian air space. Noticing the hangar was open they took a chance and darted through it. Grinding to a halt just a couple of metres from a stunned Aerrow, along with Piper, Finn and the rest Repton jumped off his bone wing.

"A cyclonian destroyer is coming this way!" He shouted at Aerrow. His irritation grew as the Storm Hawks unsheathed their weapons. The Raptors followed their example.

"Back out the hangar, slowly" Aerrow commanded. Repton wasn't going to take orders from this child.

"Didn't you here, Storm Hawk, a cyclonian destroyer is coming here" He spat the words out and bared his razor sharp teeth.

Aerrow lowered his blades. Something about Repton didn't seem right. Was he asking for their help for real? Or was it a devious trap?

Aerrow soon made up his mind as an explosion rocked the condor. And another. And another. The Raptors mounted their bone wings and the storm hawks started up their skimmers.

"Alright Repton. We'll listen this once. If this turns out to be a tra…"

"CAN'T YOU HEAR THE CANNONS?" Repton shouted over his loud engine.

"What's the plan boss?" Hoerk asked, drawing his sword and powering it up.

Repton made sure everyone could hear. "Fly beneath the destroyer where it has no weaponry then come up to the command bridge. They have glass windows so we break through, kill the captain, and steer the ship away. While one of us steers the ship the others watch his back."

Aerrow nodded with the others, including the storm hawks. It was a good plan.

The sound of terrified screaming could be heard from every direction as the cannons carved deep wounds in the flesh of the city. The sky knights flew discreetly under the destroyer and prepared to carry out their joint operation. They flew up to the bridge, and through the glass. Cyclonians shouted in alarm and panic as they were one by one cut down by the Raptors curved blades. The captain turned to run but found Reptons boomerang blade embedded in his back, carving through his heart and one of his lungs. Retrieving his blade Repton turned, smiling subtly at the storm hawks apparent distaste for his murdering.

"Who takes the helm?" Asked Repton, looking for volunteers. The storm hawks looked blank; with Stork flying the Condor outside there wasn't anyone.

"I'll try" Came Pipers voice amidst the noise of the gun decks fury.

"Alright, Piper takes the helm. Finn, get by the window. Prepare to shoot down any approaching skimmers."

"Spitz, you too." Repton growled.

Spitz drew two curved, serrated throwing blades and checked his jackets inside for more. He had plenty spare.

The two squadrons nodded and prepared to repel the inevitable assault following their break in. It came right on schedule. As the ship began to turn away the crew soon figured out the noise they suspected they heard could only mean one thing; boarders. Scrambling for their weapons they each grabbed a crystal staff and headed to the bridge to clear the ship.

The squadrons let them enter into the medium sized room and aim at Piper before charging into the squad and cutting them down. Sealing the 5inch solid metal doors they waited for any sign of a breach. None came. They thought they were in the clear when they heard a rattle of many small engines outside. A squadron of talons on switchblade skimmers came into view and begun spraying a wave of red energy towards the unfortunate sky knights. Ducking under the hail of fire Spitz and Finn got to work, taking out the skimmers as they reloaded and cutting down attacker after attacker. Neither missed a single shot and soon the skimmers were all gone.

"Guys, where do you want me to go?" Asked Piper.

Repton and Aerrow looked at each other and nodded simultaneously in a surprising moment of complete understanding of one another.

"The wasteland" They said in unison.

"That's creepy" Finn couldn't help but remark.

Piper nodded. "Going in"

The destroyer began a steep dive as Piper diverted all power to ploughing full speed ahead through the clouds and down into the wastelands below. It was time to abandon ship. They all got onto their vehicles, including Piper, and flew out the holes they made on their way in.

The destroyer fell through the clouds at an insane speed, pieces breaking away from the huge air resistance it was building up. The hull began to split as rivets popped out and sheets of metal came loose. They were in the clear.

"Hey boss" Leugey asked.

"What?" snarled Repton.

He didn't get a reply. A searing bolt of energy ripped through the air from the staff of a dying talon on the bridge and struck Leugey in the neck. He stopped suddenly, shivered a little, and reached a hand to his neck as the black, charred flesh disintegrated and fell away. A sizeable chunk was missing from the right side of Leugey's neck and he fell from his bone wing, down into the wastelands below.

"LEUGEY!" Repton shouted and reached to grab his arm and catch him as he fell, but to no avail. All Repton could do is watch as his brother plummeted from the skies and won to the wasteland below.

**Right. A brief announcement. I firstly apologise for the delay but I have been very busy, as stated above. Secondly, I am taking a break from the storm hawks fanfic to organise ideas and plan a bit further ahead with my storyline. I may write another fanfic on a different franchise, possibly borderlands, but for now I am taking a break from the storm hawks.**


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